Gaza: Europe wants to audit the functioning of UNRWA

The European Union (EU) is calling for a review this Monday of the functioning of the United Nations (UN) agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). This decision was made after allegations of possible involvement of some of its employees in the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. “We are asking them to agree to an audit by independent experts selected by the European Commission,” EU spokesman Eric Mamer said.

The commission also clarified that it will decide whether to suspend funding for UNRWA or not depending on the results of the investigation launched by the UN. She added that no payments are expected until the end of February. “The commission will consider this issue in the light of the results of the investigation announced by the UN and the actions it will take,” she said.

A number of countries have suspended funding

“It is completely normal that we demand that these allegations be clarified and investigated, since we are one of the main donors” of humanitarian and development assistance to the Palestinians, adds Eric Mamer.

Australia and Canada announced this weekend they would be suspending funding to UNRWA following allegations by Israeli authorities that staff may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas attack. Other countries have since done the same.

The United States announced Friday a “temporary freeze” of all future funding for the UN agency, which is at the center of distributing aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip and under fire from fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement.

The Oct. 7 attack killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, according to Agence France-Presse, based on official Israeli data. In response, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and launched a massive military operation that has killed 26,422 people, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, according to the ministry’s latest report. The health of the Islamist movement.